1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle headlight or lamp that utilizes a removable bulb and socket.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A spotlight and fog lamp for vehicles can be seen in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 19 37 301 and Patentschrift No. 20 24 171 respectively, but these can only remotely be regarded as the starting point for the present invention. These known lights or lamps concern accessories which are fitted on a vehicle after its sale. When a bulb change is necessary in the case of the '301 device the entire light must be disassembled. In the case of the '171 device, the front lens has to be removed.
In German Patentschrift No. 20 02 935, a lamp assembly is shown where a lens and reflector are attached to a support frame. Both the reflector and the lens are attached to the support frame by a spring assembly so that they can easily be removed from the support frame in the direction of the optical axis of the lamp, in order to change the bulb.
In German Offenlegungsschrift No. 27 55 200 a metal bulb socket is shown mounted in a plastic reflector and is so designed that it dissipates the heat produced by the bulb. Changing the bulb is only possible by removing the rear housing in the direction of the optical axis of the light.
With modern vehicles, the fitting of powerful headlights is becoming more and more difficult through the increasingly aerodynamic taper of the hood and the lack of space in the engine compartment that results therefrom. In the case of comparatively wide European style headlights which lie partly in front of the radiator area, access for changing the bulb is only possible through the lens or from above. Headlights which utilized top mounted bulbs were therefore provided with asymmetric reflectors in which the bulb was top mounted so as to be suspended. This produced shadows and dark spots and resulted in an inferior lighting technique and less powerful headlights.
A further disadvantage of the suspended top mounted bulbs is due to a high temperature concentration in the region of the bulb socket, thereby preventing the use of low cost plastic materials for the reflector.